148 Deer Hill Avenue, Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Call to speak with an attorney at
Collins Hannafin, P.C

Video conferences available
203-885-1938
Call to speak with an attorney at
Collins Hannafin, P.C

Video conferences available
203-885-1938

Lawyers Who Understand the Land Use Litigation Process in Connecticut

Let our Danbury attorneys resolve your land use matters

Collins Hannafin, P.C. has served the Greater Danbury area for more than 60 years. Our attorneys possess vast experience in the realm of land use. Depend on our reliable and experienced team to assist you in real estate and land use litigation.

Types of land use and real estate litigation that Collins Hannafin, P.C. can handle for you

Appeals to Superior Court from Adverse Land Use Commission or Board decision

If you have had your application to a Planning or Zoning Commission denied or have received an adverse decision from an Inland Wetlands Commission or Zoning Board of Appeals, Collins Hannafin’s attorneys can advise you on the strengths and weaknesses of you case and file and pursue an appeal on your behalf. In other instances, a developer may successfully receive the permit or approval that they desired, but a neighbor files an appeal that must be defended. Collins Hannafin has significant experience in successfully defending permit approvals.

Real estate tax appeals

If a property owner is not satisfied with the valuation of the property determined by the Tax Assessor for the city or town, in any year, the property owner can appeal to the town or city Board of Assessment Appeals, but these appeals must be filed by February 20 of the given year. If the property owner, thereafter, is not satisfied by the decision of the Board of Assessment Appeals, Collins Hannafin’s attorneys can file an appeal in the Connecticut Superior Court within two months of the decision of the Board.

Attorney Thomas W. Beecher has handled numerous tax appeals for commercial, as well as residential, property owners. He has also defended tax appeals on behalf of area municipalities and, therefore, has perspective from both sides of a tax appeal.

Real estate litigation, boundary disputes and quiet title actions

There are many different situations where neighboring property owners have trespass or encroachment situations. Someone who does not have actual title ownership may nevertheless have a claim to use his neighbor’s property through rights of adverse possession or prescriptive easement. Conversely, you may need a vigorous defense against a trespassing encroachment such as a fence or wall built on your property or a diversion of water onto your property. There are also situations, including some of the above situations, which require a lawsuit to be filed to “Quiet Title”, which means to have a court make a final determination of who rightfully owns property or has defined property rights, such as an easement. Collins Hannafin also has experience in prosecuting and defending partition actions, which are actions brought by one or more co-property owners against the remaining property owners to force a sale or division of the property.

Our attorneys have decades of experience with these types of cases and trials of these types of cases, as well as appeals to the Appellate and Supreme Courts of the state on these issues.

Eminent domain

The process through which federal, state and local governments lawfully take private property is called eminent domain. Eminent domain requires the government to provide you with just compensation for your property equal to its fair market value. In determining the fair market value of your property, you may not agree. In eminent domain litigation, Collins Hannafin’s attorneys vigorously and competently defend your rights to be in just as good a monetary position as if the government had not taken your property.

Sample appellate cases

Reichenbach v. Kraska Enterprises, 105 Conn. App. 461 (2008). Attorney Beecher successfully prosecuted a claim to enjoin a commercial marina operation from expanding its operation in a residential neighborhood and successfully defended the trial court decision on appeal to the Appellate Court

Smith Brothers Woodland Management, LLC v. Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals, 293 Conn. 778 (2009). In this case, on behalf of the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals, Attorney Beecher successfully argued that the Appellate Court should reverse a Superior Court ruling that permitted a non-conforming commercial logging operation to expand within a residential neighborhood. He then successfully defended the Appellate Court decision when Smith Brothers appealed to the Supreme Court.

Cambodian Buddhist Society of CT, Inc. v. Planning and Zoning Commission, 285 Conn. 381 (2008). Attorney Beecher represented neighbors who opposed an intense, high traffic use in a residential neighborhood and, along with Commission counsel, successfully defended the action of the Planning and Zoning Commission, which had denied the permit application for this large religious facility, in both the Superior and Supreme Court despite the fact that the Plaintiff claimed a right to build the facility pursuant to RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act).

Contact highly qualified land use attorneys serving the Greater Danbury area

Whether you need advice or representation concerning land use regulations, transactions or real estate or land use litigation, rely on Collins Hannafin, P.C. to provide you with cost-effective legal services. Call Attorney Thomas W. Beecher at 203-885-1938 or contact him online today.

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